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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28119477">The Wandering Prince</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/coralysendria/pseuds/coralysendria'>coralysendria</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Battlestar Galactica (1978)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Family, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:47:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,398</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28119477</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/coralysendria/pseuds/coralysendria</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Starbuck's life in the rag tag fugitive fleet.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Yuletide 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Wandering Prince</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/james/gifts">james</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For james -- Happy Yuletide!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Starbuck is nervous the first time he goes home with his Academy buddy Apollo.  For one thing, they're odd friends.  Apollo's father is the commander of the battlestar <i>Galactica</i> and a member of the Quorum of Twelve -- one of the elite.  Starbuck is an orphan from the agro community of Umbra.  While they're at the Academy, he and Apollo are just cadets, neither different from the other.  When they're in the cockpits of Vipers, they're pilots depending on one another.</p>
<p>What he's saying is that their relationship to one another is defined and comfortable.  They're friends, wingmen, Warriors together -- even if they haven't graduated to full Warrior status yet.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, it's not the formidable Commander Adama who Starbuck is nervous about being around.  If nothing else, military protocols will see him through interacting with Apollo's father, even if they're not quite appropriate for family gatherings.  As for Apollo's siblings, Athena and Zac, well, having grown up surrounded by orphans, he knows about kids.  Besides, Athena isn't really a kid; she's already at the Academy, so she's a fellow cadet.  Zac is still in secondary school and of an age to be really impressed by pilots; Starbuck remembers those days.</p>
<p>No, it's Siress Ila who makes him nervous.  He really has no idea how to act around someone of her station.  Every so often when he was a kid, a siress would make a tour of the orphan center, and he and the other children would have to be clean and presentable, sitting quietly at desks doing schoolwork or playing mannerly games in the courtyard.  No Triad, not even to show off athletic skill, and <i>especially</i> no Pyramid or other games of chance.   He learned that it wasn't acceptable to be himself during these visits. </p>
<p>So when they get to the house, which is surprisingly modest for a member of the Quorum, he hangs back as Apollo greets his mother with a kiss.  He can't hide behind his wingman forever, though, and before he's ready, Apollo is turning back and introducing him.</p>
<p>He offers his hand and starts to stammer out a formal greeting, but the siress pulls him into a motherly hug instead, whispering in his ear, "None of that, young man.  Apollo has told me all about you.  While you're here, you're part of our family.  You may call me Ila.  All right?"</p>
<p>Starbuck nods.  "Yes, ma'am," he manages to say through his surprise.</p>
<p>Ila sighs.  "Better than 'siress,' I suppose.  Apollo, show Starbuck to his room."</p>
<p>"Yes, ma'am," Apollo replies, tossing a teasing grin at his friend.</p>
<p>It takes Starbuck a little while -- and several visits -- but eventually, he feels secure enough to take the siress at her word and use her name.  While he sees Ila's satisfied expression, and takes the cookie she offers, he fails to see Adama's slow smile.</p>
<p>He wouldn't have believed that the commander had been just as anxious as Ila to see him settle into the space they had made for him as soon as he was assigned as Apollo's wingman.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>The thing is, Starbuck doesn't remember the raid on Umbra.  He doesn't remember wandering in the thorn forests.  To him, it's just a story that he occasionally trots out when he wants to charm a lady or invoke sympathy; it could just as easily have happened to someone else.<p>Instead, his earliest memories are of the orphan center where he grew up.  There were a lot of orphans from Umbra there, and he wasn't the only one who could neither remember the Cylons' raid nor anything prior to it.  The center administrators did the best they could, but they couldn't afford the deep psychological testing and treatment it would take to bring out those repressed memories, so they judged it a mercy that the children couldn't remember and moved on.</p>
<p>His real name's not even Starbuck, though he didn't learn that until his records were released to him so that he could apply to the Academy.  Those kids who couldn't remember their own names or anything about their families were given names out of fairy tales and fables or from <i>The Book of the Word</i>.  He'd been named after the wandering prince in the fairy tale of the witch and the princess in the tower -- and he was one of five Starbucks in his dormitory.  He'd also known two Cassiopeias (which is how he'd learned that it meant "fairy queen") and a couple of Adamas.</p>
<p>The administrators of the orphanage had invoked an ancient Caprican custom that hadn't been used in millennia, decreeing that the names of the Umbran orphans would be childhood names only and that if they so desired it, when they reached their majorities, they could choose new names for themselves.  He was the only one of them who had retained his childhood name.  By then, he was used to it.  It was the only name he'd known and he was comfortable with it.  Besides, he likes the idea of being a prince, even if only in name.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>Starbuck doesn't much care for his first assignment upon graduation from the Academy.  The <i>Atlantia</i> is a fine ship, but because it's the ship that most often carries the President of the Quorum of Twelve, it has a sort of stodgy atmosphere, as if the pomp and ceremony has leaked into the air exchangers and seeped through the ventilation system to lodge under the skin of all the ship's personnel.  They are all too serious.  They won't let him smoke, they won't let him gamble, and socializing with women is completely out of the question.<p>The Warrior to whom he has been assigned as temporary wingman, an older pilot called Perseon, is insufferable.  He's a spit-and-polish man who has clearly never broken a rule in his life and doesn't remember what it's like to be young, carefree, and good-looking.  (Even if Starbuck does say so himself.)  </p>
<p>Starbuck's few communications with Apollo and Boomer indicate that his friends are having a better time of it than he is.  Boomer was assigned to the <i>Columbia</i>; he's easy-going enough that he would be fine anywhere.  Apollo was assigned to the <i>Rycon</i> under Commander Kronus who has a reputation as a strict taskmaster; when Starbuck asks about it, Apollo's reply is typical.</p>
<p>"It's fine, Starbuck.  You could learn a few things from Commander Kronus -- you take too many liberties with the rules as it is."</p>
<p>"Yeah, yeah," Starbuck says, waving a dismissive hand, and hoping Apollo can't tell that he is smoking in contravention of the rules Perseon has been attempting to drill into him.  "So you have told me for the last few yahrens.  And I keep telling you that you have it backwards:  you need to take a few liberties yourself.  Just because your father's a commander doesn't mean you have to take life so seriously."</p>
<p>Apollo shakes his head, but has a smile for his friend.  "We'll have plenty of chances to work on it. I heard from my father the other day.  As soon as our probationary periods end, he has requested that we all be assigned to the <i>Galactica</i>."</p>
<p>Starbuck lets out a whoop.  "You mean it?"</p>
<p>Apollo's smile widens.  "Yes.  You, me, Boomer -- Father has asked for all of us."</p>
<p>Starbuck points his fumarillo at the screen, forgetting that he was trying to keep Apollo from seeing evidence of his smoking.  "Now with an incentive like that, I can definitely make it through the next few sectons."</p>
<p>"Cadet Starbuck!"  Perseon's voice could etch glass.  "What have you been told about <i>smoking aboard this ship?</i></p>
<p>"Uh, gotta go, Apollo," Starbuck says, extinguishing the fumarillo and waving his hand in a vain attempt to disperse the cloud of smoke surrounding him.  "Duty calls!"</p>
<p>He can see Apollo's laughing face as he cuts the communication.  If not for him smoothing off Apollo's straight edges, Starbuck thinks, as he stands at attention through a lengthy lecture about his irresponsibility, Apollo would end up just like Perseon.  Pompous, stuffy, irritating, and dull.  </p>
<p>He doesn't care what Perseon thinks of him.  Commander Adama wants him on the <i>Galactica!</i>  He's so happy he could sit through a dozen of Perseon's lectures (and will) before the <i>Galactica's</i> insignia patches are sewn onto his uniform.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div><b>Interlude:</b><p>Commander Adama, with Colonel Tigh, to one side and slightly behind him, sweeps an eye over the most recent batch of Warriors to be assigned to the <i>Galactica</i>.  Standing at attention in the <i>Galactica's</i> port landing bay are a dozen men fresh from their probationary assignments.  His youngest child Zac stands among them, doing his best to look straight ahead and not try to catch his father's eye.  </p>
<p>Adama suppresses an indulgent smile, looking instead to where his oldest child stands casually near a wall with Starbuck lounging beside him, waiting to lead the recruits to their assigned quarters and answer any questions they might have.  They make quite a pair, his straight-laced son and the rakish young lieutenant.  Both have become skilled pilots -- among the best to be assigned to the <i>Galactica</i> in yahrens and he is glad to have them.  Theirs is a family of pilots, though Athena flies shuttles rather than Vipers.</p>
<p>He must remember later to get an official likeness of himself with Zac, Athena, and Apollo to send to Ila...and an informal one that includes Starbuck and Boomer, both of whom have been folded into their family, whether they realize it or not.</p>
<p>He feels his XO's slight shift behind him, indicating that he has left the men standing long enough and it is time to begin his speech.</p>
<p>"Welcome to the <i>Galactica</i>," he says, launching into the speech that he gives every batch of new Warriors.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>So much changes after the destruction of the Colonies that it's as if the universe has shifted on its axis.  The Colonies had been at war with the Cylon Empire for a thousand yahrens, but never in all that time, had they ever considered that they might <i>lose</i>.  The kick in the gut Starbuck had felt when he thought that Adama had abandoned them -- had abandoned <i>him</i> a treacherous voice whispers in his heart, and he's always known, deep down, that he doesn't <i>belong</i> in that family, but it still <i>hurts</i> -- that kick is a love tap compared to the vast blow of losing the war, of having to flee for their very existence.<p>When Athena first tells him, he can't process it.  Can't understand the words.  They don't make sense.  And there's no time to actually think about it.  There's too much to do: surveying the ships of the fleet for space-worthiness, trying to find food for the thousands that are all that is left of twelve vibrant worlds and assorted moons and asteroids, clearing a path through the Nova of Madogon, the trap that is Carillon....  The first time he has a chance to think isn't until he ends up captured by Cylons and imprisoned aboard their basestar, facing Baltar directly.</p>
<p>For perhaps the first time in his life, he experiences a moment of restraint and doesn't immediately go for the traitor's throat...but it's a near thing.</p>
<p>When he is inexplicably released, he hasn't really settled anything in his own mind, and once again, there's too much else to think about.  Kobol?  The place where humanity was born?  And they found the way during Apollo and Serina's wedding?  It's like a fairy tale, except for the part where there's no happily-ever-after and the princess dies.</p>
<p>He clutches Cassiopeia's hand at the short funeral ceremony -- they're all short, these days, because of the need to fit in as many as possible, though this is one of the rare occasions when there's actually a body.  He's not certain whether it's for Cassiopeia's comfort or his own.  They had both come to regard Serina highly in the short time they knew her.  </p>
<p>He hates losing people.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>Starbuck is a little disgruntled the first time Boxey beats him at Pyramid -- even if the stakes are just sweets -- but he doesn't for one millicenton regret teaching the kid how to play.  He's a junior Warrior, after all, and Warriors play Pyramid, when they're not shooting Cylons out of the sky, which Boxey is definitely too young for.  Besides, he thinks he was about the same age when he learned to play at the orphan center.  The stakes were usually kitchen duties or other chores, or desserts, with markers written out on slips of paper; Starbuck remembers vividly the two games where someone actually tossed a cubit into the pot -- because he won both times.<p>Boxey is smart and observant and takes to the game like a fish to water.  Starbuck is surprised by how much he likes Serina's son -- Apollo's son, now.  He sees a lot of himself in the kid and he's glad that, unlike him, Boxey has someone to turn to, even if that someone is a slightly disreputable uncle-figure when his father and grandfather aren't available.  But if he wants reputable, there's always Boomer who seems equally fond of the kid.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, after that first time, he doesn't even mind when Boxey regularly fleeces him at Pyramid.  He actually feels kind of proud, and always makes sure to have a good supply of sweets stashed in his locker just in case.  He makes sure to grumble about it with the rest of the squadron, though.  A man has to maintain a certain reputation, after all.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>Starbuck doesn't know why he continues to see Athena even while he's getting closer to Cassiopeia.  He remains fond of Athena, but something broke between them that day he confronted her believing that Adama had abandoned them, and he thinks maybe this is just a habit between them now.<p>He doesn't want to think it of her, but in the back of his mind, there's also a traitorous voice that suggests that as the daughter of the commander, Athena could make a lot of trouble for him if she wanted to.  His reputation when it comes to monogamy isn't exactly stellar -- heck, even Boxey has teased him about it over a hand of cards.</p>
<p>The evening when he ends up juggling both Athena and Cassiopeia to the vast amusement of the host aboard the <i>Rising Star</i> is a low point even for him.  After that, well, he doesn't drop Athena completely, but he does start to spend more time in Cassiopeia's company.  Maybe he can just ease away from Athena and she won't notice?</p>
<p>He doesn't say anything to Apollo, but when he mentions it to Boomer, his normally serious buddy actually laughs out loud -- and continues to snicker at him at odd moments for the next secton.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>Starbuck would be the last to admit it, but part of the reason he volunteers to serve aboard the <i>Pegasus</i> in the desperate mission against a trio of basestars is for the sheer romance of it.<p>Here's the legendary Commander Cain returned from the dead, along with a functioning battlestar and complete crew, including Viper squadrons.  It's like an adventure story come to life.  And it's hard to resist a living legend, especially one that has been keeping his crew alive and intact <i>and</i> carrying out successful raids in Cylon territory for yahrens.  Don't get him wrong; Starbuck respects and even loves Adama, but the <i>Galactica's</i> commander is not known for <i>flair</i> the way Cain is.</p>
<p>It's like...well, it's like comparing himself and Apollo.  His friend is a solid Warrior, an excellent tactician, brave, steadfast, true, and all of that.  But he sticks so closely to the rules that he may as well be glued to them.  He gets that from his father.  Starbuck, on the other hand, is also (if he says so himself) a solid Warrior and a pretty good tactician, but he is, if he's being honest with himself, prone to leaping without looking, rushing into a fight without knowing the particulars.  He can be hotheaded and so sure he's right that he doesn't want to listen to any other opinion.  Like Commander Cain.</p>
<p>He's not entirely sure why Cain refuses him, but in the end, he has to admit to himself that he's just as glad of it.  Odds are the <i>Pegasus</i> didn't survive that glorious encounter with the basestars.  But then, Cain had beaten the odds before.  Starbuck wouldn't be terribly surprised to see the <i>Pegasus</i> reappear someday.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>In retrospect, Starbuck is just as glad that Sheba shot down his proposition.  He has nothing at all against seeing another Warrior, but after getting to know her a little better, he understands that Commander Cain's feisty daughter is much more like Apollo than she is like him.  It's unlikely that even if they <i>had</i> gotten together that it would've lasted beyond dinner and maybe a dance.<p>Besides, he's getting closer and closer to Cassiopeia, and while she has always accepted that he doesn't like to narrow his options, he can see that she isn't always happy about it.  He <i>has</i> finally broken it off with Athena, though, with no repercussions.  Athena, in fact, seems a little relieved by the whole thing.  As close as he is to her brother, he can't avoid her, but they seem to be settling into a friendship that's all the better for <i>not</i> having romantic tension tied to it.</p>
<p>He isn't sure whether to be pleased or concerned when Athena and Cassiopeia also become friends.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>Life in the fleet slowly settles into something approaching normalcy.  The restaurants, bars, and dance floors aboard the <i>Rising Star</i> reopen to customers.  A regular intrafleet shuttle service springs up.  A broadcasting service originally started as a fleet news channel quickly broadens its repertoire when a library of entertainment vids is discovered aboard the <i>Rising Star</i>.  Other ships contribute copies of vids they have aboard and soon there are separate channels for news, for entertainments, for music.  There's even an interactive educational channel and a rule that all children must resume their schooling.<p>There is even a Triad court aboard the <i>Rising Star</i>; when an announcement goes out that leagues are forming, Starbuck and Boomer are quick to sign up, though Starbuck has to talk Apollo around.  Several other Warriors also sign up; they all played Triad at the Academy.  Starbuck and Apollo were acknowledged as one of the premier teams of their class, and they soon come to dominate the court here in the fleet as well.  </p>
<p>Apollo justifies the games as exercise -- keeping in Warrior trim -- as well as giving the people of the fleet something to root for.  Starbuck, on the other hand, keeps an eye on the wagers, though he never bets on the game when he and Apollo are playing.  There's no point; they always win.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>Starbuck doesn't remember the Ship of Lights.  Not exactly.  He remembers the horrific sight he and Apollo encountered in the so-called Count Iblis' crashed ship.  He remembers blasting the count and Iblis transmogrifying into that frightening caricature of a beast in man's clothing.  He remembers his grief and the more personal horror of Apollo's death.  But after that?  Some vague flashes.  An unsettling noise.  White light.  Deep voices.  Then nothing until he, Sheba, and Apollo are aboard the shuttle on their way back to the <i>Galactica</i>.  He does feel a deep sense of relief to find that Iblis and the weird lights that appeared to be pursuing him are gone.<p>One thing he does remember:  the rightness of offering his own life in exchange for Apollo's.  He knows he would do it again, and gladly.  Not only for Apollo, but for everyone who would be affected by Apollo's loss.  Boxey.  Sheba.  Boomer.  Adama.  </p>
<p>To preserve his family. </p>
<p>Not long after, he is dining with Cassiopeia and mentions it to her.  She is silent for a long moment, looking at him, the most peculiar expression on her face.  Finally, she sighs and places a gentle hand on his cheek.  "Starbuck, has it never occurred to you that you are part of Apollo's family, too?"</p>
<p>"Ah, Cass," he replies.  "Don't be ridiculous."</p>
<p>She shakes her head.  "Anyone can see that Apollo thinks of you that way.  And you're certainly an uncle to Boxey.  How can you not see it yourself?"</p>
<p>"I'm just a nameless orphan, Cass.  Apollo's father is a member of the Quorum of Twelve."</p>
<p>"I think you'll find, Starbuck, if you start paying attention, that Adama also considers you as a member of the family.  They adopted Boxey; how could you think that they didn't adopt you, too?"</p>
<p>Starbuck remembers Ila trying to convince him to call her "Mother" a couple of times, but he had always thought she was just being kind.  He thinks about how Adama never treated him like a cadet on those long ago visits, but always like just another...member of the family.</p>
<p>He shakes his head.  He's not worthy of that.  It's not his place.  "I think you're imagining things."</p>
<p>Cassiopeia sighs.  "If you say so, Starbuck."  She holds out a mushy.  "Here.  Have something to eat."</p>
<p>He nibbles the mushy down to her fingertips, then kisses them.  She smiles and draws him closer, and then he has other things to think about.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>The longing that strikes Starbuck when Chameleon suggests that he could be his father is astounding.  It's almost a physical sensation.  He has wanted his entire life to know who his own people were, to know the name he was given at birth.  Being the wandering prince from a fairy tale is all well and good, but to know who he <i>really</i> is...well, he had never thought to have the chance.<p>Running into his father like this?  The odds are incalculable.  It's a gift from the Lords of Kobol.  He must have done something right at some point in his life to deserve such a thing.</p>
<p>But then he finds out that Chameleon was just using him for protection against those Nomen.  It hurts.  It hurts a lot more than he would have thought it could, but he's pragmatic enough to realize that in Chameleon's position, he would have done the same thing, so he gives an easy smile and agrees that the two will just have to be friends.</p>
<p>He misses the silent thanks that Chameleon throws over his shoulder to Cassiopeia and her sad return smile.</p>
<p>He doesn't forget how finding his father made him feel, though (even if it was all a ruse), and he ponders it for a long time before he slips into the lifestation and asks Dr. Salik about learning to be a genetic tracer.  He has no intention of giving up his commission or his place in Blue Squadron, but Warriors who live long enough eventually retire, and it would be good to have something to look forward to.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div><b>Interlude:</b><p>Starbuck might have missed the interplay between Chameleon and Cassiopeia, but Adama does not.  As a father who would do anything for his remaining children, he thinks he understands Chameleon's sacrifice of the familial relationship he could enjoy with Starbuck.  He had thought Chameleon a charming rogue -- like his son -- before, but now he warms to the man a lot more.  It is a gallant thing he has done and Adama wishes to honor it.</p>
<p>A few days later, he visits Siress Blassie in her billet.  Chameleon, he knows, is aboard the <i>Rising Star</i> teaching Starbuck more ways to cheat, er, win at games of chance.  </p>
<p>"Commander!" the siress says in surprise when she opens her door and bids him enter.  "To what do I owe this honor?"</p>
<p>"I've come to discuss your friend Chameleon," he says gravely, taking the seat she offers.  Her billet is just large enough for two, and she has done her best to make it homey.  It is not unlike his own quarters aboard the <i>Galactica</i>.  </p>
<p>"Is he all right?" she asks in some alarm.</p>
<p>Adama holds up a calming hand.  "He's fine.  He's with Lieutenant Starbuck."</p>
<p>Blassie's shoulders slump a bit in relief.  "Before you say anything, Commander," she says, holding up a hand of her own, "I know very well that Chameleon's not who he says he is.  I don't care.  He seems nice enough...and he reminds me of...someone I lost."</p>
<p>"Do you care for him?"  Adama asks the question gently.  Loss is something he understands all too well.  Everyone in the fleet does, and they all deal with it in different ways.</p>
<p>She nods.  "I do."</p>
<p>"Would you be willing to help me with a way to keep Chameleon out of trouble?"  He swiftly outlines his plan to her:  As Starbuck's elderly father, he is entitled to a pension in Starbuck's name.  Adama will quietly authorize it, put it into an account in his and Blassie's names, and, if she is willing, she will dole it out to Chameleon.</p>
<p>"He actually <i>is</i> that young man's father?  And he gave him up so that the lieutenant wouldn't do something foolish?" she says with what sounds like wonder.  "How extraordinary!  Yes, I will absolutely help, Commander."  Then she looks at him shrewdly.  "But, Commander, you should probably know that I used to be an accountor for the Fleet.  I don't recall a benefit such as you describe."</p>
<p>"Oh?" Adama asks with raised brows.  "I can find the regulation for you, if you would like."</p>
<p>Blassie's lips quirk.  "Well, it has been some years since I last served in that capacity; I could be misremembering."</p>
<p>"Siress Blassie," Adama says, taking her hands, "you are a treasure.  Thank you."</p>
<p>The siress actually blushes.  "Would you be doing this for any others of your crew, Commander?"</p>
<p>"I would like to think so," Adama admits to her, knowing that it's important, "but the truth is that I am quite fond of Starbuck myself; he and my son are friends; he used to visit when he was at the Academy.  My wife loved him and wanted to adopt him even then.  Now she's gone...."</p>
<p>Blassie squeezes the hands she's still holding.  "You needn't explain any further, Adama.  I understand.  I had children once, too, and really, Chameleon's just an overgrown child in some ways.  I'll take care of things."</p>
<p>"Thank you, Blassie."  He rises to go.  "The blessings of the Lords of Kobol on you."</p>
<p>Her answering smile is wicked when she says, "May I share them with Chameleon?"</p>
<p>"Of course," Adama replies, his eyes twinkling.  He hopes that Blassie can convince Chameleon to settle down and behave himself.  Mostly.  But at least with a steady supply of funds at his disposal, he's less likely to get himself into the sort of trouble he was in when he and Starbuck ran into one another.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>Starbuck is dreaming; he knows this.  In the dream, he is flying a recon mission, surveying a planet that could be Earth.  He flies over a vast, sprawling metropolis bounded by an ocean on its eastern side.  He slides his Viper around buildings which are recognizably of different ages and styles of construction.  The newest and tallest of them are all straight edges, blocky and unlovely.  The older, shorter buildings -- though also blocky in design -- are more ornate, with stylized figures at their corners and apexes.  Their designers took care to make them functional, but also beautiful.  It is all very different from the pyramidal building styles prevalent throughout the Colonies, but since being put onto this vector by the beings of the Ship of Lights, the fleet has encountered it on many planets.  Adama argues that it is evidence that they are finally following in the footsteps of the Thirteenth Tribe.<p>He lands the Viper on the edge of the city, which seems deserted.  He walks into one of the buildings and straight into a celebration full of people he knows.  He sees Apollo, Sheba, Adama, Athena, and Boxey all seated at a table together, eating food he does not recognize.  A daggit -- a real daggit, not Muffit -- lounges under the table accepting the scraps that Boxey slips him when the adults aren't looking.  He flashes a gap-toothed grin at Starbuck.</p>
<p>Boomer and the rest of Blue Squadron occupy tables nearby, clearly carousing with no care for duty shifts.  Without knowing how he knows it, he understands that the Cylons are gone, so it doesn't matter.</p>
<p>Cassiopeia slips under his arm from the side.  "There you are," she says.  "We've been waiting for you."  She leads him over to the Commander's table and pushes him into an empty chair.  "I found him, Commander."</p>
<p>"Thank you, Cassiopeia," the Commander says.  He rises from his chair and an instant hush falls over the room.  "We gather here in celebration," the Commander says.  "Raise your tankards to my sons, the heroes of the centar, who have led us here, at long last, to Earth!"</p>
<p>In the round of toasts that follows, Starbuck, confused, looks around for Zac, but can't spot him. </p>
<p>That's when he wakes up to find Cassiopeia watching him, a frown on her face.  "What were you dreaming, Starbuck?"</p>
<p>He hesitantly relates the dream to her.  "I can't find Zac anywhere," he finishes.  "In the dream, I don't remember that he died, just that I can't find him."</p>
<p>Cassiopeia sighs.  "Starbuck.  Adama isn't talking about Zac," she says in a tone that indicates he's being denser than normal.</p>
<p>"He must be, Cass. He says <i>sons</i>, plural.  He had two sons, Apollo and Zac."</p>
<p>Cassiopeia shakes her head.  "He's talking about you, Starbuck."</p>
<p>"Me?  Don't be ridiculous, Cass."</p>
<p>She cocks her head and stares into his eyes.  "You really don't see it, do you?  You need to pay more attention, Starbuck."</p>
<p>And then he wakes up for real, to find himself in his bunk in the Blue Squadron barracks.  Someone is snoring lightly across the room, but after all this time, the noise is familiar and doesn't keep him from falling asleep again.</p>
<p>In the morning, he has forgotten all about it.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>Starbuck completes his studies with Dr. Salik and begins spending some of his free time helping to compile a fleet-wide genetic database.  By this point in their journey, most of the people who are closely related have found one another, but the orphan ship is still full of children who remain unclaimed, and if even distant relatives can be found for them, it would be something.<p>He is still meeting Chameleon regularly and mentions the work.  A complicated expression that seems almost like guilt crosses Chameleon's face before he says in a light voice, "So you followed through on that, then?"</p>
<p>"Yeah," Starbuck replies.  "Don't get me wrong; I'm not going to quit the Service, but it's something that needed doing, and I thought...."</p>
<p>"You thought that after our experience, you'd like to help other orphans," Chameleon says. </p>
<p>"Yeah, something like that."</p>
<p>"It's a fine, generous thought," Chameleon smiles, meeting his eyes.  "If I <i>were</i> your father, Starbuck, I'd be very proud of you right now."  His gaze flicks back down to his cards, before he looks up again and adds, in a deliberately casual tone, "What does Cassiopeia think?"</p>
<p>Starbuck smiles.  "She said pretty much the same thing.  I didn't tell any of the guys, but I needed help with some of the technical stuff, so she tutored me."</p>
<p>"She's a good woman," Chameleon says, his eyes twinkling.</p>
<p>"She'd have to be to put up with me," Starbuck agrees, then lays down his cards.  "Beat that."</p>
<p>And Chameleon does, which sets them to arguing good naturedly over which of them had been cheating.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>Boxey is no stranger to Blue Squadron's barracks, even though he and Apollo have quarters of their own.  The boy, always thrilled about his "junior Warrior" status, spends as much time with the squadron as he can.  The Warriors in the other squadrons might look on him as a strange sort of mascot, but for Blue Squadron, he is a baby brother and is treated like royalty whenever he appears.<p>He and Apollo have always had a good relationship, so Starbuck is surprised when Boxey, now sixteen yahrens old and about to embark on the Fleet's version of cadet training, asks if they could have a private meeting without alerting Apollo.</p>
<p>There aren't very many private spaces on the <i>Galactica</i>, but Starbuck arranges to meet the youth on the flight deck; as long as there isn't an alert, it's actually one of the most private spots in the fleet.  They probably could have met in Apollo's quarters as the captain is currently on patrol, but Boxey vetoed that suggestion.</p>
<p>When he gets to the flight deck, he finds Boxey already there, looking up at Starbuck's Viper with a troubled expression on his face.  He is nearly as tall as his father now, and his light brown hair has darkened to the same shade as Apollo's.  Someone meeting them now would never know that Boxey was adopted.  As always, he is wearing the single insignia pin Apollo gave him shortly after the fleet launched.  Muffit, who is sitting at his knee, looks around and yaps once at Starbuck's approach, his ears turning.</p>
<p>"Hush, Muffit," Boxey murmurs automatically.</p>
<p>"Hey, kid," Starbuck greets him.  "What's up?  No trouble between you and your father, I hope?"</p>
<p>"Not...exactly," Boxey replies.  "I just...I have something I want your advice on, is all."</p>
<p>Starbuck frowns.  "Okay," he says, drawing the word out.  "Shoot."</p>
<p>"It's about my name," Boxey says.  "My real name."</p>
<p>"I thought Boxey <i>was</i> your real name."</p>
<p>"No, it's just what my mother called me when I was little.  Father picked it up from her and you all picked it up from him."</p>
<p>"So if Boxey's not your real name, what is?"  Starbuck is beginning to have a glimmer of where this might be leading; he remembers the ancient Caprican custom well enough from his own childhood.</p>
<p>"Troy.  I'm actually named for my first father."</p>
<p>Starbuck produces a fumarillo from his pocket and lights it, taking a few puffs while he thinks about that.  "And you want to start using your real name now that you're going into cadet training."</p>
<p>Boxey -- Troy -- nods miserably.  "But I'm afraid that Father and Grandfather will be disappointed."</p>
<p>Muffit, sensing his master's mood, gives a soft mechanical whine.</p>
<p>"Well, kid, all I can tell you is that you should talk to them about it.  They're both reasonable, and I don't think your father would be upset about you wanting to honor your birth father," Starbuck says.  "I'll support any decision you make.  You just let me know if you want us to start calling you Troy, and I'll pass the word to Blue Squadron.  Heck, if you want, we can even organize one of those traditional naming ceremonies like they used to have back on Caprica.  I saw enough of them at the orphan center to put one together, but I'm sure your grandfather knows the proper forms."</p>
<p>Boxey's face lightens immediately.  "Thanks, Starbuck.  I'll talk to Father when he returns from his patrol.  Come on, Muffit."  He turns and heads for the crew elevator, leaving Starbuck on the flight deck.</p>
<p>"Is <i>that</i> what's been troubling him?"  Apollo walks out of the darkened area behind a support strut.</p>
<p>"Apparently," Starbuck replies, unsurprised.  Whether it had been the slight vibration of the returning Viper, or the soft sound of Apollo's breathing, he had known that his wingman was there.  "Does it bother you?"</p>
<p>Apollo shakes his head, a fond expression on his face as he gazes in the direction Boxey went.  "Of course not.  I just didn't think he remembered his birth father.  He's never actually spoken of him before."</p>
<p>Starbuck shrugs.  "He may not.  But this is important to him.  So...naming ceremony, then?"</p>
<p>"Only if he wants it," Apollo says.  "Now, if you'll excuse me, Lieutenant, I believe I have to go have an important conversation with my son."</p>
<p>"Of course, Captain," Starbuck says.  "You know where to find me if you need backup."</p>
<p>Apollo grins and strides off toward the crew elevator.</p>
<p>Starbuck stays where he is, puffing his fumarillo.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>~*~*~</p>
</div>Time passes, as it must.  The fleet's long journey continues along the vector given to them so long ago now by the Ship of Lights.  From time to time, they come across worlds capable of supporting human life.  Some are inhabited; some are not.  Every so often, as they come to these worlds, people will petition the commander to leave the fleet.  They lose the entire Nomen contingent at the first world they come to with sizable swathes of desert.  No one is particularly sorry to see them go, even though they have kept almost entirely to themselves since the incident with Chameleon.<p>Commander Adama doesn't try too hard to convince people to stay; he understands how difficult fleet life still can be.  He makes sure that they have enough equipment and materials to make a life for themselves and moves on.  His only requirement is that the ships stay with the fleet.  As a consequence, people are able to spread out and live much more comfortably now than when the fleet first set sail.  </p>
<p>There has been no sign of the Cylons in yahrens.  Adama believes that they have passed out of the Empire's territory and knowledge, that they have truly escaped, which is why he allows the fleet to pause from time to time at likely worlds in order to scavenge materials to further improve fleet life.</p>
<p>There is a feeling in the fleet, now, that they are no longer the survivors of the Twelve Colonies, no longer fugitives.  They have become something else, a space-borne people unique to themselves, who have melded together from the Twelve disparate Colonies into one single society.  If the people of Earth are the Thirteenth Tribe of Man, then maybe the people of the fleet have become a Fourteenth.</p>
<p>Starbuck shares the feeling completely.  Growing up as an orphan, he has always striven to surround himself with other people, first at the orphan center, then at the Academy, now in the Fleet.  His family is huge and unconventional by Colonial standards, but fleet life cannot be measured by those standards any longer.  If home is where your loved ones are, then whether or not the Fleet ever finds Earth, here and now, this is his place.  </p>
<p>The wandering prince has finally found his home.</p>
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